Lord Jiang frowned after listening to my report. "If she warned Chen Yujia, do you foresee any other risks?"

"Her current mental state is dreadful. I imagine Chen Yujia won't even agree to see her, and that's precisely what's distressing her. So, we shouldn't worry too much about that aspect. Besides, we only need tangible evidence of his crimes. With one piece already in hand, one more solid piece will ensure we can lock him down securely."

The textual symbol was an exceptionally crucial piece of evidence, capable of proving Chen Yujia's connection to the series of murders. This evidence alone could warrant his immediate detention. However, Lord Jiang and I shared the same view: better to wait, to gather more evidence, ensuring Chen Yujia couldn't slip through the net so easily as he had before.

After hearing my assessment, Lord Jiang agreed to the plan of placing Zhang Hemei under house surveillance for the time being and immediately set the arrangements in motion.

The case was now taking a dramatic turn, seemingly nearing its conclusion, yet it turned out that Zhao Shiya played the most pivotal role. The old police adage—that solving a case is seven parts skill and three parts luck—proved undeniably true.

I sat in my office, idle and in good spirits, and began **getting to know the two new colleagues who had just arrived. Just then, Zhang Jiewei walked in. The two new colleagues immediately straightened up and called out in unison, "Hello, Team Leader Zhang!"

I frowned. This guy was still as irritating as ever, instilling the same demeanor in the two new recruits as he had in the entire Fourth Investigation Team. Still, the fellow was, after all, my savior in a way, so I decided to turn a blind eye.

Zhang Jiewei nodded curtly at them and then said to me, "Once this case is cracked, I will certainly request a major commendation for you."

I affected an air of nonchalance. "Forget the commendation. You keep it, and keep your team leader position too. I’m fine just living a peaceful life for a while. But you at least owe me three months of big meals, available on demand." After all, the kid was rich; it would be a shame not to extort a little.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Jiewei actually believed me, replying with utmost seriousness, "I won't take your merit, but counting it under the Special Operations Bureau is the same to me. Rest assured, I'll be at your beck and call for three months." Without giving me a chance to protest further, he spun around and slipped into the small office, slamming the door shut behind him with a sharp snap.

I shook my head and sighed, "We’re not the same kind of people; we don’t even drink the same water."

At that moment, Feng Siyan hurried in. The instant she saw me, she lowered her head slightly and brushed past, avoiding eye contact. This little actress had surely learned everything from Gao Jianning already; she was feeling quite nervous.

However, since she might very well become my aunt’s future daughter-in-law, I decided it was best to leave her alone; otherwise, I’d end up becoming the common enemy.

Now, the final stage was rapidly approaching, and everyone was busy. Zhang Jiewei was in charge of overall operations, Feng Siyan handled technical support, one new colleague was monitoring Zhang Hemei, and the other was watching Chen Yujia. As for me, I was inexplicably left with an easy schedule. I wondered if Lord Jiang had forgotten me, or perhaps he was intentionally giving me a couple of days off, thinking of my recent exertion, to prepare for the final battle.

One day, I was half-reclining in my office chair, idly spinning a ballpoint pen, when Lord Jiang burst in, shouting at me, "Arrest Chen Yujia immediately!"

I blinked, momentarily stunned, struggling to react. Lord Jiang clarified, "The mole has been found—it’s Ding Qingyuan from the Fourth Team!"

I instantly understood the gravity of the situation, springing up from my chair and hurrying out after Lord Jiang.

Along the way, Lord Jiang gave me a concise account of how Ding Qingyuan was discovered:

The situation where I was framed as the murderer in the church case, with the culprit narrowed down to members of the Fourth Investigation Team and a handful of forensic personnel, had prompted an intense investigation into them—they were digging up everyone’s ancestors.

As a result, Ding Qingyuan came into focus.

Ding Qingyuan himself showed no slip-ups; the problem lay with his girlfriend. No one at the precinct had ever known he even had a girlfriend, and it took the investigators considerable effort to locate this woman.

Of course, it’s understandable that some men prefer not to announce a girlfriend before marriage, but the investigators discovered this woman had extravagant spending habits—she had spent nearly thirty thousand yuan shopping at Huamao Mall in a single month, and her online shopping expenditures far exceeded what an average person could afford. A deeper look revealed the woman held no formal job, her family was not well-off, and aside from Ding Qingyuan, there was no other man in her life. In short, all her financial resources derived from Ding Qingyuan.

Ding Qingyuan’s family was just ordinary, incapable of funding his girlfriend’s lavish lifestyle. The investigators then began looking into the woman's bank accounts and discovered that twenty thousand yuan had been deposited into her account every quarter for the past year.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, Ding Qingyuan finally confessed to being bought off by Chen Yujia and supplied numerous details.

With Ding Qingyuan's testimony, Chen Yujia was trapped; even with a hundred silver tongues, he couldn't escape the relentless net of the law!

Yet, I still couldn’t quite believe it. I had a nagging feeling that Chen Yujia wouldn't be brought down so simply. He must have some unexpected countermeasure, perhaps even turning the tables, just like last time.

Suddenly, I felt like a startle-reflex bird, once bitten, never forgetting. But I believed that against someone like Chen Yujia, such vigilance was necessary.

I always harbored a certain dread toward Chen Yujia. This dread wasn't simple fear, but an unpredictable terror. You could never know his next move, yet you found yourself walking right into his traps at every turn.

The progression of events had never been under my control, and its conclusion would be the same.

Just as Lord Jiang and I were driving toward the clinic, a message suddenly arrived: Chen Yujia had vanished from the clinic!

Lord Jiang roared with fury, severely reprimanding the colleague on the phone before immediately requesting authorization from the bureau leadership to issue a city-wide warrant for his arrest!

The crimes Chen Yujia was involved in were monumental. Nearly every officer in Anyin City was mobilized. A massive net was cast, severing all routes leading out of the city, and a house-to-house search commenced.

But Chen Yujia seemed to have evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Would he escape again this time?

I asked myself over and over, but there was never an answer, because I wasn't Chen Yujia. I couldn't fathom the impossibilities he could turn into reality.

But this time, I seemed to be wrong.

Three days later, a piece of news hit me so suddenly that I almost couldn't believe my ears.

Chen Yujia had committed suicide. The location was International West Gardens, and the woman burned to death alongside him was Zhang Hemei!

What on earth was going on?

It felt as if ten thousand threads in my brain were hopelessly tangled, churning endlessly, yet unable to escape the rotating suction.

Impossible! Chen Yujia would never commit suicide!

There had to be a trick.

Why death by fire, a method that made corpse identification difficult, rather than another way?

Chen Yujia must not be dead. He knew he couldn't pass modern scientific examination or the scrutiny of numerous forensic experts, so he fled under the guise of guilt, staging this arson-suicide. Zhang Hemei was merely a sacrificial pawn to confirm his supposed identity!

Lord Jiang produced an authentication report. The DNA analysis clearly stated that the DNA from the body was entirely consistent with the human tissue samples collected from Chen Yujia's home and the clinic.

"No, this must have been arranged beforehand! He planted those samples at the house and the clinic just to make us believe the dead man was him!" I shouted, but my voice was pathetically weak because I knew the cases Chen Yujia was involved in were sensational, and the identification of his remains would not be taken lightly.

Lord Jiang sighed and handed me another sheet of paper. I recognized Chen Yujia's handwriting instantly.

"This was found at the fire scene, inside a crystal bottle next to the body."

I unfolded the note, and the characters seemed to leap into my eyes like living things:

Everything is as Officer Wang Lei stated, but it was all arranged by fate. I originally intended for him to be my substitute, but I failed to achieve that. I have failed. Everything I have done has lost its meaning, and I can no longer exist in this world. I hate myself, just as everyone else hates me.

I stared blankly at Lord Jiang, realizing the confusion in his eyes was no less profound than mine.

After a long silence, Lord Jiang finally said slowly, "Regardless, the evidence currently gathered shows that Chen Yujia was the perpetrator, and now that he is deceased, everything is over."

"No, it’s not over. He said everything had just begun."

"If he could deceive you once, why not a second time?"

Looking at the characters on the note, my doubts intensified: "What did he mean by 'substitute'? Could it be the soul transference from Taoist secret arts?"

As Michel had suggested, deep within Chen Yujia’s core resided an eternal, irreconcilable pool of bloodlust and cruelty. Once this malevolent energy occupied his body, the original Chen Yujia did not truly die. He had been constantly seeking a solution, and the best, quickest method would undoubtedly be to find a more suitable vessel for 'it'—to make 'it' voluntarily depart...

Thinking of this, I quickly shook my head. It was sheer fantasy, like something out of a supernatural novel.

But other than this explanation, I genuinely couldn't conceive of another.

If Chen Yujia's intellect had reached a height unattainable by ordinary people, then everything he did was equally beyond easy penetration or understanding.

Perhaps what I believed was mere illusion, and what I refused to believe was the actual truth!

Yet, I believed the Chen Yujia under hypnosis was the real one, because I had witnessed a monstrous, overwhelming demonic energy, completely unmasked.

I let out a long sigh, setting the note aside, and looked toward the heavy, oppressive clouds gathering on the horizon. Those dark, oppressive clouds felt as if they were moored directly to my heart, something I could never escape in my lifetime. Even if he truly were dead, I couldn't emerge from his shadow, just as the sky can never escape the shroud of clouds.

For a mortal like me, I could only wish for more sunny days.

I also hoped that the eternal, irreconcilable bloodlust and cruelty would vanish from this world forever with Chen Yujia's death, because life is short, and God had no need to punish humanity further!

Could God hear my prayer?

(The End)